Our worldwide travels beginning in the year 2017

“Blue Mountains National Park…”

One of my favourite places to have visited so far was the Blue Mountains National Park, situated roughly 60km outside of Sydney. We left around 8am on Tuesday hoping to avoid some traffic. Failed epically. We did seek out ‘Macca’s’ for brekky though to set us up for the day! Then came the realisation that my phone wasn’t taking us all the way into the National Park, just the bit you have to pay for. Nathan and I went into the visitors centre and a very helpful lady gave us a map and told us the most logical route from where we were.

About ten or so miles more our journey began. Similar to those we had experience in America, this national park you could drive round and stop to go off on hikes or to viewpoints. The sun was shining, it was warm and a glorious day to spend in the National Park. First stop was at Wentworth Falls.The views were just sensational from the lookout points. We could see so far out into the blue haze with luscious greenery all around. It was stunning. We found a couple of treks from the viewpoint that took us down to the waterfall. It wasn’t an easy trek. Mum had to go back to the car to swap flip flops for trainers and then we set off.We traversed across the cliff top with drops to our right, gaps between steps and under overhanging cliffs. Me being me, I slipped but thankfully didn’t faceplant.The scenery was beautiful around us and we finally reached the waterfall. Despite the amount of rain we had seen, it wasn’t particularly fast flowing but with the backdrop of the mountains it was awesome. We had probably walked for about an hour from the car park, to the viewpoints, listened in to one of the tours about snapping a eucalyptus leaf in two to make it smell, before embarking on the treks, only to find that after climbing about 20 flights of stairs (ok might be slightly exaggerated) we were back at the car park! From the car, we refuelled with a 750g bag of snakes from Coles and set off to Leura.We came to a sort of creek, well cascades of water into a sort of cove, shadowed by trees of which some had clearly been hit by a storm or something! Still the views at the end of the viewpoint…The views may look the same from each angle but I assure you, no photos do this National Park justice. It was incredible. From Leura we headed to Echo Point, the viewpoint for the Three Sisters.The views were just breathtaking! ‘Gunnedoo,’ ‘Wimlah,’ and ‘Meehni,’ were members of the Katoomba Tribe. They had fallen in love with three brother from the Nepean Tribe, but were forbidden to marry due to tribal law. The brothers captured these sisters and seeing them in grave danger, a witch doctor turned the sisters into stone. He couldn’t turn them back into their beautiful form because he, himself was killed in battle. There’s a bit of aboriginal folklore for you! The formations themselves were amazing and one of the highlights of this national park! Before we headed back to the car, we walked towards the formations down a fifteen minute trek.The last stop on our way through was Scenic World. The skywalk was closed due to refurbishment, but we were still able to do the cable car, the train and the boardwalk at a reduced price of $33!Ok, now for those of you who have been reading, you’ll know I hate rollercoasters. I’m not kidding when I got in this ‘train’ I felt like I was riding the Hulk all over again. About a ten second queue, straight into the seat, no idea where to put my hands or hold on…I’m surprised I didn’t pass out!At 52 degrees, this is the worlds steepest train! The best part? You can adjust your seat as to whether you want more or less of an incline! I couldn’t figure out what I was doing so after a slight scream we plummeted downwards into the abyss of the jungle. The views going down we’re, as with any part of this park, stunning. Who would have thought to put a rollercoaster fear injecting vertical train into it though? Still, we reached the bottom and got off to begin our boardwalk but not before videoing the train going back up!Ok so yes it may not look vertical but I assure you it bloody felt it!!! As we got onto the boardwalk, we walked past a load of coal mining statues and figures. Then we continued walking along the boardwalk which was about 2km in total amongst the gum trees and greenery.Plus a huge termite mound! We decided to head back up via the cable car which had a guide in it talking to us about what’s around. Either I was facing the wrong way or he didn’t know his left from right cos I had no idea what he was looking at! Still, the view…The rock to the left was ‘orphan rock’ and apparently is a good place for proposing. Fun fact for you all there! We got to the top on a far less thrilling ride than going down and headed up to the cafe for an unprecedented view of the park.I could never get tired of the views we’ve been lucky enough to experience so far in Australia. This is one of the best.

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Published by Emma & Nathan’s Travels

Nathan and I spent 8 months travelling America, Central America, South America and Australia before returning home, but that hasn't deterred us from more adventures. Since then, we have visited other countries and I have also incorporated places visited with others (",)
Whilst my website describes 2017, our adventures will last a lifetime and I will reminisce about places visited before as well as after.
I live to travel and explore new places with an aim to visit every country in the world
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4 thoughts on ““Blue Mountains National Park…””

I saw that you had liked my post about the Blue Mountains in Oregon, USA, and I wanted to see your blog. How amazing! You wrote about the Blue Mountains in Australia. I really loved your photos and story. Thanks.